


The Meeting

by shadowsdream



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-21
Updated: 2013-01-21
Packaged: 2017-11-26 08:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/648521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsdream/pseuds/shadowsdream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki Laufeyson is alive</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after Thor and before The Avengers

He awoke in the darkness. He awoke alone in the silence, the emptiness drowning him out. The ragged pieces of his soul were floating precariously almost out of reach, scattered like stardust in the ether. A slight shift in consciousness and he gathered the fragments, projecting his form into corporeality. The body of a man grew from the shadows, cloaked in black and green.

Loki Laufeyson was alive.

It may have been days, or it may have been centuries. Loki stared out over the barren wasteland, thoughts tumbling over one another in his head. This wasn’t Hel, there was no stench of death, just the bitter empty void that echoed the hollowness of his heart. The Bifrost was destroyed, he was stranded wherever he was. He did not recognise this place as any of the Nine Realms. For all he knew he may as well have been flung into a whole other universe. It could take them a millennium to find him or perhaps they would forget him, the lost traitor of Asgard.

It took little effort for Loki to conjure up the spark, darting desperately between his fingers, like prey in a trap. Erratically the light spun, becoming a pulsing orb, casting an eerie shade of green over his face. He pushed the magic gently ahead, the hovering beacon lighting the world before him. Dust and rocks stretched to every horizon, the bleakness of nothing that was or ever will be. Here he was now, the King of Nothing. He had wanted to rule, and now he had an entire world of his very own.

No, Loki shook his head, that wasn’t entirely true. He never did want to rule Asgard. He could have cared less for the throne. He only wanted… what was it he wanted? He thought he knew, back then. He… he wanted them to stop glancing suspiciously at him, whispering names like Silvertongue and Trickster. He wanted the shadow of Thor to stop standing over him, crushing him under its weight. He wanted Odin to look to him as the All-father looked to his brother… but that wasn’t to be… could never be. He had just wanted to prove that a frost giant changeling could be king, could be worthy, could come from nothing and win back everything. The god of lies they called him, and yet when the lies fell away…

He swallowed the cry of despair that threatened to well up from some deep hidden crevice inside of him. He would shed no tears for Asgard; Asgard was not likely to shed for him. He needed no home, he could make his own. If it was to be in this godforsaken hellhole then so be it. He still had his magic, he had powers that half the worlds could not match. He needed no one. He could feel the fire in his blood, the coursing energy growing as he fed it, the savage anger simmering below the surface.

_Sol_

At his command, the orb of light above him flew higher, flames consuming its form. Within moments, a sun took her place in the sky, warming him with her rays.

_Brunnr_

As the fire left his being, a steady rushing tide swept through his body. A sleight of hand, and the rising well of water flowed up between the rocks, trickling a river through the dust.

“I believe humans play at this in their world… tending to their gardens.”

Loki snapped around, nerves and instincts alight, small daggers leaving his palms before he saw the cloaked shadow under the outcrop of rocks behind him. He had a brief moment to register a pair of ashen grey hands before a sharp crescent of light knocked his blades harmlessly to the ground.

“Who are you?” Momentarily, something almost akin to fear grabbed him. There wasn’t many who could spy unnoticed on Loki Laufeyson.

The being stared at him in silence for a while before replying, “I have no name. The Other, some may call me. But you, oh Lord of Lies, should know a name has no meaning other than what we give it. I can be an ally, I can be a friend… or do you choose to make an enemy of me?”

“You’ll do well not to play games with me.” Loki growled, he was not in the mood. “What world are you of? I have not seen the likes of you before.”

“And you have seen everything?” There was a glimmer of a smirk before it disappeared.

Loki bristled. ‘I’ve seen the Nine Realms.”

“Nine? Nine of the realms? You’ve seen nothing, Asgardian. The humans, they call you a god. I call you a boy. There are universes you’ve never dreamed of beyond the reach of your beloved Yggdrasil. I could show you real power. Walk with me and learn.”

In another world, there was a story of a snake in an apple tree. “And why should I trust you?”

“Because all those you thought you could trust have failed you.”

And there was the truth. In the web of lies and temptation this stranger was spinning, this was the hook to drag him in. Loki hesitated.

 “Sentiment. That is the human weakness. Why hold this burden? Does your bitterness drive the blood through your veins? Does your resentment give each day a new dawn? Rise above this, child. Set your heart with steel. You could have the world you want. Asgard may be the home of many gods, but your Midgard needs only one. Earth sits ready for the taking with the Bifrost gone. Take it, take what is rightfully yours.”

The words struck a certain hunger within, Loki could feel the burning, but he was not a fool. “You call me a boy, but I am not the naïve innocent you think I am. Midgard may be vulnerable and open but it has its protectors, I’ll not take it singlehandedly. Why help me? You want something from this, what is this bargain you’ll have me strike? What is the price? My life? My soul?”

The Other chuckled from the shadows. “Your soul? What use would I have for that? No, there is something the humans have that I would like for myself. I have an interest in a certain Tesseract. My army, the Chitauri, is yours for the Cube. That is all I ask for.”

“This Cube, it holds great powers?” Loki’s mind could feel the faint twitch of curiosity as it awoke.

“Great powers indeed. None one like you could harness. You may try, for I know you do not trust my words, but I would prefer to have you intact to deliver it to me.”

“Why not take it yourself? Why not send your army? What manner of a trap will you have me walk into?

“The Chitauri may be warriors but we understand diplomacy. It would cost us little to destroy the planet they call Earth and take the Tesseract. But we have no quarrel with the humans. Enslave them, torture them, kill them off one by one, do what you will with them. Their world contains resources that we may make use of yet. Call it an investment if you will. So now… what is your decision? Will I show you everything? Or shall I leave you here to tend to your garden, child?”

Loki ignored the barb and considered his choices for a moment longer. He was not one to trust easily, but he could see the feeling was mutual. There was no reason why he could not uncover the secrets he was not being told later, no reason why he could not dig the truth out from the lies. He could bide his time. “I will see what you have to show.”

“Then consider this our first gift to you as your ally.”

A golden pillar of light appeared before him, pulsing to a rhythm akin to a beating heart. As the glow dimmed, at its core a sceptre was revealed. A blue white orb sat at its tip, the source of its pulsing energy. Twin curved blades arced around the power source, menacing and bone sharp.

“This is your gift, a weapon?” Loki laughed, “Am I going to beat the humans into submission?”

“A weapon, yes it is. But it is so much more.” The Other grinned beneath his hooded cloak, a grin dangerous enough to kill.

The sceptre flared blue. In moments, a thousand fires blistered under Loki’s skin, the deafening roar burning through his skull until it threatened to explode from within. Blinded by the sea of blood welling from his eyes, Loki fell to his knees, gasping, clawing at the ground with charred fleshless hands.

“It speaks with the Tesseract. And once on earth will allow you to access some its power. _True_ power.”

The heat and searing pain slowly subsided and Loki sat back, panting and shivering in cold sweat. Gingerly he touched his fingers to his face. He could see again. There was no blood. His hands were whole.

“Come now, there are preparations to make.” A black vortex appeared, swirling screams echoing from its depth. The Other turned and walked into the darkness beyond.

Loki looked up and grinned.


End file.
